Cinematic Greats: Donnie Brasco

Prior to The Gift, a trailer was shown for the upcoming Johnny Depp portrayal of Whitey Bulger, Black Mass. I was instantly reminded of Depp’s other mob film, Donnie Brasco (lest anyone has remembered, let’s all forget aboutPublic Enemies).

Which gets one thinking about the career of Johnny Depp, one of the biggest talents in Hollywood. He was on the Letterman show talking about his first stint as Captain Jack Sparrow in the mega-blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean series; speaking of the Disney execs:

They didn’t know what I was doing, exactly. They were concerned that I was, uh, I think in their words ‘ruining the movie.’ Something subtle like that.

A wonderful little interview. You’ll have to excuse the quality; if you can find better let me know.

Being Johnny Depp, we may take it that he assured the producers to the effect, “I’m Johnny Depp. I know what I’m doing.” Boy did he. From Edward Scissorhands on, there has never been any doubt about Depp’s “out there” roles — he always nails them. He dons the full costume and makeup better than just about anyone. He’s great at that, often brilliant. Though occasionally a movie will fall short, as The Lone Ranger or Sweeney Todd, his performance is not to blame for those failures. He always adds a quirky element to his portrayals that — as the Pirates anecdote proves — is entirely his invention.

But there’s this whole other side of Johnny Depp that is seen much less frequently — the “serious actor” who plays “straight” roles — roles without the fancy costume, without the panoply. Donnie Brasco is the best example of this, and makes me wish he would do more “straight” roles.

Donnie Brasco excels because of Depp, and a great true story, and — most of all — because Al Pacino puts in probably the best performance of his career.

A terrific movie, maybe not as “essential” as Goodfellas, but every bit as good. My highest recommendation.